She became the 31st Huskies player to reach the milestone.

“I think it’s just kind of recognition for the hard work that I’ve put in,” she said. “That goes along with the hard work that our whole team has put in. Obviously, that’s not possible without everybody on the team, and I’ve had a lot of great mentors, and a lot of them have also scored 1,000 points here, too. So, yeah, I think it’s good to see when your work finally pays off.”

When Lenz first arrived in Houghton, she had a number of players on the Huskies to look to for leadership as she learned the ropes of college basketball. Now, she is in that mentor role.

“It’s definitely an interesting transition,” she said. “I think I’ve had a lot of people to look up to that have been in this position before. I’ll say, like Ellie Mackay, for example. She was a great leader for us. I think she set a really good example, and she honestly took me under her wing when I first got here. So, she’s someone that I’ve always kind of looked up to, and, I guess, tried to mimic some of the things that she did with the team. Same with the same thing with Kate Meister.

Michigan Tech guard Isabella Lenz attempts a layup during a game against Concordia-St. Paul on Saturday, Nov. 30, at the SDC Gym in Houghton. (David Archambeau/For the Gazette)

“Those two have been kind of big role models for me. I think a lot of the things that I’ve been able to implement this year, and kind of also help the underclassmen, and those types of things, have come from people that have helped me in the past. So, it’s definitely been a transition, but I think, over time, you kind of learn from the ones that came before you, and are able to implement those types of things.”

For Lenz, the role of leader has been even more challenging than it might have been in another year, given that the Huskies have been dealing with a rash of injuries throughout much of the early season.

“It’s super tough,” she said. “I think the biggest thing, though, is being flexible. I think everybody on the team understands that that’s what’s expected of them, because we never honestly knew who was going to be ready on any given night. I think just being flexible, and ready, for any opportunity that someone might get (is important).

“Hopefully, these next couple weeks here will give us some time to kind of recoup and everything finally feels like we have everybody back. It’s not easy, but I think being able to go through adversity like this early in the season is a good thing for us, because we are such a young team, and don’t have a ton of experience. I think kind of understanding how to battle through that will definitely help us later in the season.”

For much of the early season, Lenz has often been the lone player on the floor with more than a year of experience, and that has been difficult to navigate at various points of the early going. However, over the last two weeks, the Huskies have seen junior forward Maja Kozlowska and senior forward Emma Anderson return to the lineup, which means that Lenz is no longer the only player on the floor with multiple years of experience.

“That’s been actually super important,” said Lenz. “I think it’s kind of evident that we have inexperience, especially late game situations, just in game scenarios, too. So, I think having other types of leadership, and also people are starting to know their roles a little better here (will help). Obviously, that was up in the air in the beginning of the season, and people were playing one through five. So, I think it helps to have other people kind of be leading in different ways.”

Along with being the lone consistently healthy upperclassman from the start of the season, Lenz has had to learn to be a leader in another way on the court. She has had to navigate being the player that coach Sam Clayton wants to have the ball in the game’s biggest moments.

“I try not to think about it like that in the moment, just because it can be kind of tough, and I think that’s something that I’ve honestly struggled with in the past,” Lenz said. “Letting that kind of get in my head a little bit, and not necessarily being able to stay composed when I should have been. So, I try not to think about that as much as I can and just play basketball.”

The Prescott, Wisconsin, native loved Houghton and everything about Michigan Tech when she made her official visit.

“When I came on my visit, I actually got to meet with most of the team, and I think that was one thing that kind of showed that we were all going to be like a family,” she said. “It was super community driven, and also the coaches, I just liked their philosophies. You could tell the amount of time and effort that they were putting in to recruit me. I didn’t feel that elsewhere. So, I felt that this was definitely the right choice.”

Despite the Huskies’ early struggles this season, Lenz would not have it any other way.

“Now that I’m here, it’s evident that all those things were true,” she said. “I feel like we have such a tight knit group, and, honestly, this is some of the best chemistry we’ve had since I’ve been here.”

She believes that the Huskies are getting closer with each game they play.

“This summer, we put in a lot of work, and we haven’t necessarily seen it show in our record, but I think everybody just knows that it’s going to turn at some point,” she said. “We’re going to turn a corner. We’ve already taken huge steps from the beginning of the season. But, I think everybody is like, ‘Yes, we need to see this work that we put in pay off.’ So, we’re going to do whatever it takes to get to that point.”

With this being her senior year, Lenz is trying to keep up with how fast everything comes at her.

“I think, for me, it’s just, obviously, being my last season, trying to give it everything I have, take advantage of these last moments,” she said. “Also, I think a lot of that comes down to setting an example for the underclassmen. I didn’t necessarily come in being an extremely vocal leader, so I think that’s kind of the method that I’ve taken, I guess, since I got here. Being a senior now, I have a little bit more of a vocal role here, so I think kind of both those ways have been trying to set an example for the underclassmen.”